Two people are dead and 16 others have been sent to hospital following an early-morning fire at a Lynn Valley housing complex in North Vancouver.
More than 150 people were forced out of their homes in four buildings of the Mountain Village Garden Apartments complex.
The injured were taken to several area hospitals.
"There's a wide range of some serious injuries, smoke inhalation, there's burns," said North Vancouver fire Chief Brian Hutchinson.
Firefighters arrived around 2:30 a.m. PT and found one of the four buildings in the multi-residential complex on fire.
Chief Hutchinson said the fire progressed rapidly, but crews were able to stop it from spreading to the other half of the 17-unit building.
Four of the apartments were heavily damaged by smoke and water.
"We have yet to determine whether the smoke alarms in the units were properly functioning," said Hutchinson.
Residents of the three buildings that weren't severely affected by the fire were allowed back into their homes.
The cause of the fire hasn't been determined.